Netherlands outplays Canada

QUEBEC CITY (May 31, 2013) – The Netherlands surprised Canada on Saturday with a 25-22, 25-17, 20-25, 25-23 victory in FIVB World League men’s volleyball action. On Friday, the Canadians had beaten the Dutch in four sets in the season opening match.

Wytze Kooistra was the top scorer for the Netherlands with 21 points while Thijs Ter Horst added 19 and Bas van Bemmelen 10. Gavin Schmitt led Canada with 17 and Gord Perrin added 10.

"Holland outplayed us today in all aspects,’’ said Canada’s head coach Glenn Hoag. ‘’We couldn't produce any offence. There are always lessons to be learned. We are going to go back and prepare for the next match (next week)."

The Netherlands, ranked 36th in the world, took command early by winning the first two sets including a six-point run to finish out the second.

‘’The Netherlands came out and played really well and made less mistakes than yesterday,’’ said Schmitt, from Saskatoon. ‘’We weren’t up to our standards, we didn’t play bad but we can be better. Hats off to them they played really well.’’

The Canadians, ranked 18th, rebounded with a strong third set much to the relief of the 3,600 spectators at the Colisee. They pulled away late in the set earning seven of eight points to grab a 23-17 lead.

‘’We found some fight in us,’’ Schmitt said about the third. ‘’Toon (Van Lankvelt) came in and really fired us up with some great plays and gave us energy. We started to try and score points rather than wait for them to make mistakes.’’

The fourth set went down to the wire with the two teams exchanging leads before the Dutch closed it out with two unanswered points.

"Yesterday, I said I was pleased with the level of play - but we made too many mistakes,’’ said the Netherlands head coach Edwin Benne. ‘’It was different today, this is why we sit here as the winner. Also, there was less pressure from the Canadian side."

Canada’s next four World League matches are in Mississauga, Ont., at the Hershey Centre: June 7-8 against Portugal and June 14-15 against South Korea before heading overseas for matches in Finland and Japan.

‘’No one is going to dominate this pool,’’ said Schmitt. ‘’It’s going to be a dogfight every time.’’